Cut & Paste

Charlotte

"Wait Cam," I said. She turned to look at me. "I can carry light animals without the slighest bit of trouble. I'm strong. I'll carry Stanley." She looked me over and I turned eagle.

"Are you sure?" she asked. I sighed.

"Yes, my wings are very powerful, I can fly for about 10 minutes without touching down. It won't even take 2 minutes to get Stanley and I across the fence."

"Okay," she agreed. I turned to the ferret, he looked even more nervous than before.

"It'll be okay," I promised. Stanley was just like me. We both had never really fit in before now. "I'll get you across safely."

"o-okay," he said. I grabbed him in my talons, wrapping them around his body rather than into it. It would be painful that way.

I took off and soared high into the air. This is where I need to be. I felt Stanley shake. I touched down and saw Whitney beside me. I nodded to her as we both tranformed into our human shapes. We followed the girl called Red to a homeless shelter. It was going to be a long night.

Whitney

Josh and I followed the group to the homeless shelter. Red insisted that we should change our appearances.

I whined a little and looked at Josh. "You have to Whitney." he told me, this suprised me a little. He knew I loved my hair.

He searched through a box and handed me a box of hair dye and a bottle of bleach. The dye was brown.

"Brown? Really?" I asked.

"Yes. Now give me that bleach. We're finally going to look like twins." he said.

"Fine..." I grumbled.

Josh and I found Red and let her dye our hair. We both had pretty short hair to begin with so cutting it wasn't needed. I was glad.

I then went with Charlotte to find some new clothes. I was glad I could still hang with her. Planning an escape with her had really made me fond of her. I quickly found some bright colored shirts and a pair of dark blue jeans to wear, but Josh found me and made me pick something else.

"We have to look different." he said.

"But we were at the island for such a long time, how could they know how we dressed before?" I complained.

"Different, Whitney." he insisted.

He was so bossy sometimes. I ended up finding loose blue jeans and an old black hooded sweatshirt to wear with some old tennis shoes. Josh found similar clothes, but different. We didn't want to look like twins who had escaped from a prison where we had our dna meshed with that of an animal now did we?

Charlotte

For now we had to stick together. That was fine by me, I had been alone most of my life alone and it was nice to have someone who was like a freind to me.

I had died my hair a platium blonde color and chopped half of it off. Now instead of it falling to my waist, it was just below my shoulders. I groaned but after seeing Whitney tough it out I shut up. I could see that she loved her hair but I still missed my normal brown color.

Stanley was looking around behind us. He, too, had changed his appearnce. He seemed so lonely.

"Why don't you stick with us for a little while?" I asked him. I looked at me surprised.

"M-me?" he asked.

I smiled. "Yes, c'mon, we need to find something to eat." His eyes lit p at that. Everyone was hungry. Who knew a breakout could take so much out of you?

"So," I said casually, looking at Whitney. "Where to?"

She looked at me and shrugged. "Somewhere to eat?"

"Yeah, but we need money to buy food," I said. "We need to find a way to get money."

Camryn:

I rushed into the building with the other partials. I saw rusty scissors, beaten up hair dye boxes, and piles of clothes everywhere. I knew that I'd have to do something with my hair and my teeth. I hoped they had dentures or something.

I walked in and found a woman who was helping us. "Excuse me," I said politely. "Do you have any... dentures?"

She looked at me oddly, and I showed her my teeth. "Oh my!" she exclaimed. "Let me see what we have." She ran to the back and began to fumble around in boxes.

After a few minutes, she returned to me holding a pair of white teeth. "Here," she told me, extending the dentures out to me. "See how these fit."

I put them in my mouth, letting the hollow, fake teeth cover my pointy ones. They had some type of sticky substance that made them stay in place. I smiled.

"Those will work fine, my dear. Is there anything else you need?" she asked.

"I think I can take it from here, thanks." She walked off to find some other partials to help. As I walked around, I saw people cutting their hair and putting in contacts. I knew I'd need to do both.

After I'd found colored contacts that made my eyes look a deep, muddy brown, I searched for scissors. I knew no hair dye would work on my deep shade, so I had decided to cut it. I took a pair of scissors and approached a mirror.

I raised the scissors up my long sheet of hair, stopping at my chin. I began to snip, giving myself a blunt haircut. When I was finished, I felt as though five pounds had come off me with my long hair.

I approached David, who had gotten new contacts and died his hair a brown color. "Nice," I smiled, looking at his new clothes. "What are we doing next?"

Whitney

"Hmm.." I thought about this some more. We did need money.

"David said his dad owns a deli." Josh said.

My stomach growled. "Deli's have food." I considered it. I wouldn't mind sticking with the others until we had a good meal.

I searched for the others in the shelter, it was almost hard to recognize everyone now.

"Shall we?" I said once I found them. I started walking to them, grabbing a box of pale green contacts on my way.

David~~

"Well we are going to need to get out of here fast, they will look here first. My dad owns a Deli on the north side, we can hide out there, we can get food, and shelter. Plan the escape, and then leave the city. We need to get far away from here, very far," I told her, then she looked at me.

"Hey David, you seem to know all this so well,why have you never used it?" Cam asked me.

"oh that's because it was fun escaping," I told her, and she gave me a look that said "Huh."

"Well it was. Only recently had I been going out to get information, finding the weakest links, the least heavy posts, and at what time. The out side guard posts, and then when I got enough, I was ready," I explained more.

"Oh, I get that, kind of," Cam said.

"well then time to go," I said, "Everyone come on, get ready we're heading out. We need to get up town by morning, while its dark and empty enough to get up there."

Everyone nodded, and followed my lead, all ready to fight at any moment.

[Rello Firan - Scientist]

"Jesse!" He wailed down the empty hallway, "Jesse, get out here!"

Rello turned a corner and pulled out his pistol again, checking for the amount of sedative bullets he still had. Almost gone. His footsteps boomed and clanked against the metalic floors, Where are the guards!

From a cell a few meters away a partial sprang out and started down the hallway. Rello fired, sending the creature falling. He didn't look back as he swivled into the guard's room for more bullets.

The pistol almost fell from his hand, his voice sharpening as he spoke, "You?" he whisperd, "You're letting them out!"

Jesse's eyes grew wide, "Rello, I--"

"What do you think they're going to do once they get out!" Rello pushed past her and started to put in the sequence for turning on the fences again, but Jesse pushed me back.

Her voice sounded determinded, "No, they need to be free,"

"Oh, yeah?" He retorted, biting down angrily onto the lollypop; it must've looked a little silly. "What're they gonna do after they get out? What's gonna happen to them? How will they survive!"

Charlotte

I felt horrible about my previous actions. I could only image what was happening to Jesse. I just hoped she was okay. I could only think about saving ourselves now.

"What do we do next?" I asked, as we walked to a Deli.

"What do you mean?" Whitney responded.

"Well we can't stay there too long, and many of of will have to split up. We would draw too much attention to ourselves and no one wants to go back there," I said. We shivered at the memories.

"Where are you going to go?" she asked. Was that concern or suspicion I spotted in her voice.

I shrugged. "I'll have to find a job. I'm only sixteen so living spaces will be limited but I'm sure I'll find something. You shouldn't worry so much," I laughed at her expression. "You'll have your brother and I know he'll help you through it."

"Who'll help you?" she asked. I sighed. I had my answer but I didn't want to say it allowed. I was alone here. I was an outcast and I knew it.

As much as I hated to admit it, it was nice to have a friend for once. Living life alone can just be so...lonely.

Dr. Julius Barrick

Rello pushed past Barrick as he entered the guard room. He didn't even seem to notice Barrick. Rello frantically began the sequence to reboot the fences. Jesse pushed him away.

"No, they need to be free," she said, her voice that of quiet determination.

"Oh, yeah?" snarled Rello. He clamped a lollipop angrily in his mouth. Barrick couldn't help but be reminded of a small toddler throwing a tantrum. But, Barrick reminded himself, Rello was one of Barrick's top scientists. If they were to get the Partials back, Barrick needed Rello's assistance.

Rello didn't seem to be finished speaking. "What're they gonna do after they get out? What's gonna happen to them? How will they survive!"

"What do you care?" snapped Jesse. "They are nothing more than animals to you!"

Rello opened his mouth furiously to retort, but Barrick stepped in. "That's enough out of the both of you. One way or another, we will get the Partials back. Jesse," Barrick turned sternly to her. "you will either help us, or I will be forced to detain you here."

Jesse flashed Barrick a defiant look.

A radio crackled on. Barrick glanced at the radio. It was lying on the control board.

"... Barrick?" asked a voice calmly. "Barrick, come in." It was the head of Recapture Team 1. Barrick glanced at Rello and Jesse before picking up the radio.

"Barrick here. What news?"

A cold laugh came from the other side. "Of the Partials? There are long gone, Barrick..."

Barrick gritted his teeth. He was beginning to strongly dislike that man. "And you called only to inform me of this?"

"No, I didn't. Are you on a secure line?"

Barrick glanced at Jesse and Rello again. "No."

"Then get on one," replied the man. Barrick didn't like his tone. The man seemed far to happy for the situation to warrant. Nonetheless, Barrick stepped out of the guard room, closing the door behind him.

"Right, I'm secure," said Barrick tonelessly. "What is it you needed a secure line for?"

"I have a message. From the Duke."

Barrick was silent. "The Duke should have given the message directly to me."

"Well, you hadn't told him about the Partial's escape, had you?" sneered the man. Barrick glared at the opposite wall.

"What is the message?" he snapped. The other line laughed again.

"The message is as follows: Barrick, I'm sick of these escapes. The project has obviously failed. I am removing you from the head of the project. William Sloane, the former head of Recapture Team 1, will be replacing you. He will be in charge of finding the Partials, and terminating them as they are found. Should you try to hinder Sloane's work, he has permission to detain you. Should you seem to know information that he does not know, Sloane has permission to gain that information from however he deems fit. Charming, eh, Barrick?" Sloane laughed again.

"You were planning this," said Barrick quietly. Sloane laughed tauntingly.

"Perhaps, Barrick. But you'll not know. The duke is not very pleased with you at the moment."

"Of course. I offer my congratulations to you, Sloane."

"Yes, well, I'll be meeting with you later, Barrick. We need a discussion about the Partials and the information I'm sure you know."

"Of course, Sloane," repeated Barrick.

"Oh, and one more thing, Barrick. I am sir, now, to you."

"Good day, sir,"

"Until we speak again, Barrick."

Barrick switched off the radio to the sound of Sloane's laughter. Numbly, he re-entered the guard room.

"We - " began Barrick. "We have a problem."

Whitney

I was quite worried about Charlotte, she didn't seem to have a plan. But now that I thought of it, I didn't either. Neither did Josh. We didn't remember much of anything before we were taken for the experiment. The mutation messed with our long term memories.

"I'll be fine." Charlotte said. It wasn't very convincing.

"What about you Stan?" I asked Stanley. He still seemed nervous, but I liked having him around.

"I-I don't k-know." he stuttered.

"Relax Stan. You've got us now. Josh and I will take care of you." I turned to Charlotte. "And Charlotte too if she wants."

Charlotte

I bit my lip. So she did care what would happen to me. I could help them a lot, after all I could fly, but was it worth the risk. If too many of us stuck together, we would draw attention to ourselves. Then again, we all needed to work to buy food and a place to sleep.

"Alright, but we'll need a plan," I said.

Whitney smiled. "I'm up for ideas." I couldn't help but grin at her.

"We'll each need to find good jobs, but that's obvious. I guess we could use our animal abilities to our advantage. We have aharper senses than most. I can fly, you and Josh are tougher and stronger than almost anyone else, and Stanley is cunning," I said.

"Well, what can do. We're only teenagers," Josh said.

"That's where I'm stuck. But all I know is that we can't stay here for too long," I said. Whitney agreed and picked a blonde feather off of my shoulder.

"This is going to be hard to hide, Charlotte," she sighed. I took the hair band from around my wrist and put my hair up into a tight bun.

"Better?" I asked. They nodded.

"For now just keep your ears alert. That's the only edge we've got on them," I said with a sigh. If we didn't come up with a plan soon, we were screwed.

I looked at the twins smiling and laughing. I even caught Stanley smiling, but looked down blushing when he looked my way. I knew I wouldn't leave them now. I was happier than I could ever remember being. I was free and I had friends.

** I won't be able to get on for a couple of days. You can still talk to my character and keep her active etc, and I'll try to get on soon. Sorry!*

Red

Everyone was talking about jobs and going to David's dad's deli.

I had other plans, though.

I wasn't the kind of girl that anybody could really be friends with. When my DNA was fused with wolves', I guess I turned into a lone wolf. No pun intended.

Backing away from the group, I tried to ease myself to the door before any one noticed. I needed to be out on my own.

"Red!"

Dang it.

"Where are you going?" David called. Everyone stared at me. It was a little uncomfortable. I wasn't the type to blab all of my plans to everyone. I just wanted to leave unnoticed.

"Out, of coarse." I was always blunt to everyone. No wonder any guy - or girl - liked me. I sighed heavily, hoping he'd get the point that I wanted to leave. "I'm going to the woods."

"How will you survive? You don't have any food or anything."

I scanned the group. I barely knew these people and yet they semi-cared about me. Weird. "I'm going to let my animal instincts take over me once I get to the rural areas." They stared, "Battling them has gone far enough. The scientists and the instincts. I'm just tired of everything. I just want to forget."

"What's wrong with surviving with us? We know what it's like to go through it," David asked. "You can't just leave."

"Yeah, I can."

I walked and he grabbed my elbow. He shocked me. Quite literally and emotionally. He looked like he really meant it. And as I looked up, everyone one else did too.

But I could never be friends with these people. They had known the blunt, cold Red for too long. They had never known the old me, the happy Riley. It had been far too long.

I shook him off, and walked out of the shelter. Everyone let me go; no one followed. The bell tinkled as I pushed the door and took one last look at them. They still stood still, staring at me.

The door hit me on the way out.

Stanley

Good ol' Stanley ... still as twitchy as usual. It appears the experiment hadn't changed his personality ... much. Stanley, after having a slight conversation with the others - where they did all the talking - and hurried over to a tree, hunched over like some crazy mad-man, mumbling to himself.

"I'm really surprised I didn't die ... really surprised. Oh no! No drawing paper? What to do ... what to do ...? A-ha!" Stanley spotted a sharp jagged rock and sat beneath a tree, and began carving pictures into the flimsy bark of the tree. He didn't really know what he was drawing - it turned out of be a picture of a ferret riding on sharks made of paper and words. He blushed, thinking of the nice 'partials' her'd just met.

Stanley curled his legs up to his chest, his right eye twitching slightly, before wrapping his arms around them. "So cold ... no friends ... lonley ..." Stanley trailed off in his usually staccato and incomprehensible mumbled of jumbled words.

David~~

I was torn, we needed everyone to stay together, but I couldn't leave them to get her back, what if something happened. But then again, it wouldn't be that long.

"Here take this," I told Cam and handed her a note for my dad, and the address, "I'll meet you there, hopefully with Red."

"Okay, be quick," Cam said, sounding like she didn't want me to go.

"I will," I said and shot out the door.

Looking around wildly, I spotted Red, she was walking down the street, to the south side. As quickly as I could I ran down the street, but just missed the light, and had to wait to cross. Not waiting till it had totally stopped, I zig zagged passed a few cars but when I got to the other side she was gone. I ran straight forward, hopping over, or pushing aside several people and then I caught site of her.

She was moving fast down the street, though, so I had to speed up. Letting my animal take a bit more control so I would be better at avoiding cars and people. After five minutes of hot pursuit, where I lost her several times, and had to back track twice, I caught her, sitting at a bus stop.

"Red," I called out when I caught up, panting a bit.

"I said you can't make me come," Red said and looked away.

"I know. I'm not forcing you, but we need you Red, more then you now," I said sitting down next to her.

"Yeah right."

"Yeah I am right. Red you are strong, and kind. You can fight, and you can turn the crowd, we need you to keep us together, because I know you will be able to talk sense into them, and I know I can't."

"No you can, your better, you got us out, you are a leader."

"Sure, but I got out on sheer luck, and help. If you and Cam weren;t there I knew I would have failed. I can't do it alone, every great leader, has had a strong advisor, someone to guide them when they are lost, and you are my advisor, and I need you. So will you come?"